Homebuilder Kent Lay knows all too well that Summerlin land isn’t cheap. His company, Woodside Homes, is paying double what it did a few years ago.

It’s not alone. Land prices have been climbing at a faster rate in the sprawling Las Vegas community than in the valley at large, with the gap growing even wider in recent months.

Summerlin land prices soared 31 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, while prices valleywide fell 34 percent in that time.

The price jumps are slowing land sales but by no means scaring off builders, who spend big dollars tying up land in the 22,500-acre project, one of the most affluent and popular places to live in Southern Nevada.